Chain for loom pattern mechanism



D.6,`1927. j f y 1,651,594

' Ar. A. GQRDON CHAIN Fon Loom PATTERN Mscamrsu Filed Apfil i8. 1927 I Patented Dec. 6, 1927.

l g 1,651,594 'naires STA/'res PATENT ors/ic g ALBERT A.; Gonnoinor vtononsfrna, massacri-.usaran yli,sns-renoa 'no onoM-rtroit a."

Knowtns v:LOOM moans, or vaoacnsfren; MASSACHUSETTS, comecamion .or-

MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAIN roaiiooivrrefrfrnitn irncrmnrsrr.

Appiieation niet Aprii is, i927. semina. 184,642.;

This invention-relates to improvements in' pattern chains lfor looms andthe method of theirfmanurt'acture and it is the genera-l object ot the invention to .provide an improved 'chainxthe links ot which :shall "be uniform and AAmore durable than thoselieretotore pronmfancy or shuttlebox looms it is neces-A sary vtoprovide some means to determinethe sequence in which the various shuttles be come active and itis common practice to'em# ploy `a so.called pattern chain which oper atesjon one or more box mechanism controlling` levers. *The chain may be given either a constant or intermittent movement and ordinarily comprises both high. and low links, a change from one to the other of these types ot links etecting a movement of the lever t'orth herein have been molded and made of castiroii but they are so small that the han- (lling,k siiagging and drilling1 operations render them relatively expensive considering their weight. It is an important object of my present invention to providea substitute for the cast iron link, said substitute being 'formed of sheet metal pressed to a proper shape and being provided With Wings vWhich are bent into alignment around a connecting portion which subsequently forms the bearing" for the control lever.

llt is a further object ot' my invention to provide an improved method bynziearis 01"' which the links .are made. lliith these and other obJects in view which Will appear as the description proceeds. .my invention resides'in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein one forni of my invention is shown,

Fig. 1 is aside elevation ot a portion of a pattern mechanism Afor a box loom .having my improved chain applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is Ha plan view of one of theblanl'rs t from lwhich a chain link is formed,

Figs. Bye and 5 represent successive steps in the'forming ot the chainlinlr,

5 yand looking `iii the direction of arrow 6 of that figure,

Figi?? the Wings of the link,

Fig. 8 is a topplanview 'of as'hort 'section Fig. 6 is a side elevation ofthe chaiiilinlrr when thesa-me is iii-the tornil shown Vin Fiomf illustrates N4the Hmannerof aligning i of the ychain formed according to my :present invention, Iand Fig. `9 is a view similarto Fig. '7 but show-*1 inge loiv link.`

Referring to Fig. 1 it `will be seen`r that I haveillustrated my chain in connection with" a multiplier such as is commonlyv employed v with all cylinder `motions for gingham looms and for dobby multipliers. A stationary sliatt lOlias `mounted thereon a sprocket '1 1l which 'is rigid with a ratchet yWheel 12. `A

stud 13 al'fords pivotal mountingfor a lever 14e which is given a periodic oscillationabout said stud by meclianismnot shownbut Well understood A pull pawl 15 is pivoted 'to the lever ylilas at 16 and rprovided for actuating'the ratcliet'vvlieellQ f Said paivl has a shield 1? which receives the end thrust of" a rod 18 carried by a control lever 19. The

latter is Vpivoted on 'a fixed stud 2O andhas a* spr-ing arm Q1 connected to atension spring 22 and has also a chain engagingarm v3 to he raised by thechain to having` a's-hoe Zet be described.

The paivl 15 is shown in fmerativelposi-k tion with respectto the ratchet 12, being` perfV mitted to assume this position by reason of the fact that the shoe 24 is restinpgon a low link ot vpattern chain 25; The rod 18 is'thus moved to the lleft by spring` 22 and shield 17r tolloivs'it. Fora -turther*understanding of a device similar Ato Vthat already described, l

reference may be had to my prior( Patent Number 1.060.977.

It is .to he understood that the matter set ioo forth in 1 is ymerely illustrative and that my invention can be appliedto any one oit' a number of chain Operated mechanisnis which may diiii'er from that shown in Fig# ure 1. y

My invention relates more particularly to chain links andthe method oit their `manufacture and l have illustrated the successive lil steps in making these links in the drawings from Figs. 2 to 7. l rst provide a blank having two pairs or' wings, one pair ly ing to the right and the other pair to the lett of the vertical line passing through the center of the blankthe upper member of each pair being indicated at 51 and thelower member being indicated at 52. Each wing is perforated as at 53 and there is left between the wings 5l and 52 on each side of the blank a recess 54 to receive one of the teeth or' thel sprocket ll after the link is formed. The connecting bearing portion 55 between the links 5l is dened at the lower end thereoi as seen in Fig. 2 by the upper end of a recess 56 which separates the wings 52 and is formed as .a ceratoid cusp the curved sides of which are eventually aligned to cooperate with the control lever. Extending from the .upper end of the part 55 is a tongue 57 the purpose ol which is to provide extra bearing surface for the control lever.

The second step in 'forming the link is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 where it will be seen that the wings 51 have been offset from `the wings 52 as shown clearly in Fig. 4. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the offsets indicated at 58 are in line with the apex Ot the recess K 56 and for this reason the wings 52 will bend independently ot' wings 5l and without distorting the latter. The reason i'or the offset is apparent troni Fig. 8. During this step the tongue 57 may be curved downwardly slightly, `as indicated in Fig. 4.

In the third step the blank shown in Fig.

4 and indicated in dotted lines in Fig. v5 is subjected-to a bending operation which leaves the connecting bearing portion 55 as indicated in Fig. 5, but bends the wings from the dotted line position down to the full line position.

The fourth and last step in forming the link consists in simultaneously pressing t0- gether the sides shown as flaring in Fig. 5 and at the same time acting on the wings to align the periforations 53 in pairs. rlhis step is shown in Fig. 7 where it will be seen that the lower tool or holder 60 is provided with a tongue 6l which extends into the `recesses 54 and this figure also illustrates the upper tool 62 as having a concave face 63 which engages the upper edges of the link to move the same to proper alignment as the members 60 and 62 are made to approach each other.

As shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 the portion 55 Lwhich forms the connection between the several wings is of suiiicient breadth and length to afford proper bearing for the shoe 'i 24 of lever 23. The bearing for the shoe 24 is further enlarged by the tongue 57, and as the latter is depressed in the offsetting step prior to the bending, said tongue serves to space the wings 5l. The width of tongue 57 isslightly greater than twice the thickness of the steel stock so that the wings 52 on one link can fit between the spaced wings 5] on ythe adjacent link. It will further be seen that as the perforations 53 are formed in the blanking outV or rst operation it is unnecessary to subject the chain link vto the drilling operations such as are necessary with the ordinary cast iron link. I find that the chain links described herein are cheaper than the cast iron links heretofore used and are more uniform and provide a bearing for the lever 23 which is substantially equal in effective ness to that of the cast iron link.

' From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a link forloon'i patternchain mechanisms formed of pressed metal having wings bent around the central body of the blank in such a way as to provide a bearing surface tor the shoe. It will further beseen that the recess 56 extending to bearing portion 55 permits ready otl'settingoil the Wings 52 from the wings 5l, the point of offset of the wings 52 as indicated in Fig. 3 being substantially at the upper end of rthe recess 56 so that as the wings on the opposite sides are. bent as indicated in Fig. 5 the connecting portion 55 may be lett of sutlicient width to space the wings 5l. liurthermore, the tongue 5T adds bearing surface for the lever and also acts to space the wings 5l. The bending operations are facilitated by the fact that the apex of recess 56 is substantially in line with the apices ot recesses 54.

Having thus described myinvention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be madev therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is: v

l. A link for loom pattern mechanism chains, said link being it'ormed of a single piece of sheet metal and having two pairs of wings parallel to each other, the members ofone pair being in contact with each other and the members of the other pair being spaced from each other, and said link having a portion to which all the wings are secured forming a bearing surface for a pattern chain lever.

2. A link 4tor loom pattern mechanism chains, said link being formed kof a single piece of sheet metal and having two pairs of wings parallel to each other, the members of one pair being in contact with each other and the members of the other pair being spaced from each other, said link having a bearing portion to which all the wings are secured to form a bearing surface for a pattern chain lever, and a tongue projecting from the body of the bearing portion and lying between the spaced members of said other pair ot wings to separate the same and forming any extension ot the bearing portion of the link.

3. A link for loom pattern mechanism CTI mi dv chains, said link being formed of a single piece of sheet metal and having two pairs of wings all lying in diiierent but parallel planes, the members of one `pairV lying closely adjacent to each other and the members of the other pair being separated, vand said link having a Connecting portion to which all of said wings are attached, said conneci ing portion being snbstantialiy perpendicular to the planes of the wings to present a bearing surface for a bearing chain lever.

4, A link for loom pattern mechanism chains, said link being formed ot a piece of sheet metal and having two pairs of wings which are parallel to each other, the members of one pair being pressed closely to` gether and the members of the other pair being separated a distance approximately the same as the thickness of the two members which are closely adjacent to each other, said link having a connecting portion for all the wings to which the latter are attached, said connecting portion presenting the bearing for a pattern lever and lying principally between the members of the separated pair of wings. 1

5. A link for loom iattern mechanism chains, said link being formed of a single piece of sheet metal and having two pairs ot wings, the members of one pair lying closely adjacent each other and the members oft' the other pair being offset from the planes ot the wings which are closely adjacent each other, said link having a connecting port-ion to which all of the wings are secured, said connecting portion presenting a bearing sul" face for a pattern mechanism lever and said bearing portion lying to one side of the oii'- set between the pairs otwings.

6. A blank for a loom pattern chain link, said blank being formed of sheet metal and having two pairs ot' wings and a connectingL portion, said 'wings and connecting portion being integral, said connecting portion lying between the members of one pair and that portion of the blank lying between the members ot' the other pair being cut away.

7. rit blank for a loom pattern chain link, said blank being formed ot' sheet metal and having two pairs oi' wings and a connecting portion, said wings and connecting portion being integral, said connecting portion lying between the members of one pairand that portion of the blanklying between the inembers otl the other pair being cut away, the members of the second named pair being ott"- set with respect to the members `or the first named pair, said pairs lying in substantially parallelv planes.

8. A blank ior a loom pattern chain link, said blank being formed of sheet metal and having twopairs of wings and a connecting portion, said wings and connecting portion being integral, said connecting portion lying between the members of one .pair and that portion of the blank lying between the members of the other pair being cutaway, the members oi one pair of wings being offset from the members of the other pair, and the connecting portion lying to one side of the oii'set.

9. That process in a forming ot' loom paV tern chain links which consists in the following steps, providing a blank having two pairs of wings, the members of the first pair being separated by a blank space and the members of the second pair being joined together by a bearing portion, oilsettingthe wings of the tirst pair out of the plane of the wings ot' the second pair, and bending said wings so that the offset members oit the first pair lie closely adjacent each otherand the members of the second pair are separatV ed by the bearing portion.

lO. The process of forming pattern chain ot' the second named pair of wings, and folding the blank so that the members of the secondv named pair lie close together and the members of the first named pair are sepa rated and spaced by the tongue.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto atiiircd my signature.

ALBERT A. GORDON.

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